Before Hard School, They Met
by goddessa39
Summary: Lady Vengeance fic. Prethe show. Spike friendly. Buffy and Spike met a while ago, and she gave him something for him to give her back later. And does he have a connection to her mate?


**Before Hard School, They Met**

Timeline: About 120 years or so before the show starts. I think it happened in China.

Summary: This is the original meeting of Spike and Annel in my POV.

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the fic and the Lady Vengeance stuff.

…………………………

**Thousands of Years later; **

**About a hundred and twenty years pre-the show, something happened in China.**

She was sitting in a pub when he walked in. All soon-to-be-dyed brown hair to show in the dark and blue eyes, watery leagues to drown in. She could tell by the smell already streaming from him that he was one drunken vampire. Even though she watched him, for the life of her, she couldn't bring herself to stake something so emotionally tied to the world. She held no emotion herself left to cling to.

He fell his way over to the table, limping on a banged up knee. His senses were too messed up to really know what was going on.

Dru left him again, her and Darla and her precious Daddy wanted to go rampage and she told him to stay here and watch the fledges. WATCH THE FLEDGES! He was Bloody William the Bloody! He didn't _watch the fledges_! He had gone out two minutes after they left in the carriage to get himself bloody wasted.

He made his way into another bar after killing this pretty little brunette (who wouldn't leave him alone-really wanted a ride, but she just looked way too much like his Dru to pass off the kill) in another bar down a road or two. Then he spotted this pretty little blonde in the corner table all on her lonesome. Well, he decided that he would just have to go keep her company. After all, maybe he'd get a little dance out of her, someone totally opposite from his Dru.

But first, he'd have to put his brains together and get his coordination back under control before he sat down to chat her up and maybe get under those young, skinny dimpled knees. His head automatically decided for some rape and pillage of whatever house she was from, but he paid it no mind.

When he actually made it over to her though, she didn't look up. She remained staring into her drink as If it was a crystal containing all the secrets in the room. "What do you have, luv?" the drunken vampire asked her.

She turned to face him, eye to eye, and the affects of his drinking binge seemed to float away as he was dumped into sobriety. He fought back a groan.

The dull grey eyes showed more knowledge and power and hate and pain then he had witnessed or cared too.

Well, maybe he'd have an interesting night anyways.

The blood flowing in his veins from sire to childe seemed to call to her and the demon in him; the primal part to far unattached knew that she was claimed, not to be hurt at any cost. Years later, his grandsire would feel a similar pull beside the bond belonging to the soul, but would not put any thought into it.

She looked back into her drink, a hard liquor with lemon. Strong, but nearly tasteless despite her super senses. The numbness in her had finally settled to where she could move even with it. She had only been awake for about a year. Methos was taking care of some other stuff in the next town over but promised to be back by night to make sure she would eat and sleep.

The flowing she could feel in the vampire's blood that was giving her the heebeegeebees woke her up some and she looked back into the ice blue eyes.

"William." He said, greeting her with a hand out across the table. She stared at it for a moment before grasping his hand in an abnormally strong shake. "Buffy." She rarely let anyone but Methos or the current slayer to call her that anymore, but something in him put her at ease somehow.

He snorted. "What kind of name is 'Buffy'?" he asked. She shrugged, used to the weirdness. He looked her up and down. The odd name fit her though.

She replied, knowing what he was thinking. "You don't much look like a William, William. So, besides killing and sipping _red wine_, what do you do with yourself?" she asked. She needed a story, even a gruesome one would do.

They talked for a while. When William started telling her of how he liked to torture people, it came right out of her mouth. "Did you like railroads as a kid or something?"

He looked at her strangely. "Not really." When he got her meaning, he explained. "Rail road sticks are just hard and firm. They have a really good wedge to cause pain and still allow a person to scream." He drifted off in memory. Somewhere along the line, he saw the very large rock on her head, an expensive ring if he did say so himself. But he dismissed it as she went on.

"Cards?" she asked. He nodded and they started playing poker. Before they knew it, both were betting things. Within the hour, William was stripped down to a slim white shirt and his under drawers. All Buffy had taken off was her hair strap. The few people looking at her indignantly were just ignored.

She felt another tingle underneath her neck and looked up to find some young vamp looking to kill or maim. She looked at William and sighed. "Well," She grabbed the hair strap and started twirling it in her hand, "I had fun, but this is the end of my ride." She motioned to the newbies and William sighed in annoyance. Amateurs. "Later Spike." And with that, she was off to get some comfort food from the bad guys in the bar she was in first. "Later pet." He said, before he could figure out what happened.

He put his clothes back on and left. He hadn't had too bad of a night after his sire left, but he knew that he would wonder about her.

2 nights later, he found her on the street talking to a servant girl again. "Well, hello pet."

She nodded in greeting. "Hello Spike." She swung the girls hand to him and said, "Adriana, this is Spike. Spike, Adriana. She's was fetching water for her mother when some bad guys with serious birth problems jumped her."

"Birth problems?" Spike asked, not getting it.

"Yeah," she replied. "Their faces were all screwed up and they were after her throat." The girl looked up in memory at her savior. "There was a guy there too that the bad guys didn't kill. He was trying to get her into the corner alley, probably to rape and kill our Adriana."

"Really? After you took care of the guys with screwed up faces, what did you do?" he asked, truly curious about her.

"I killed him." She said seriously. He didn't try to hide his surprise as the little girl ran into the house. Apparently, Buffy was walking her home. He didn't even question where Buffy's own escort was.

When the girl was safely outside, Buffy strolled with Spike. "Spike."

"Yes pet?" Spike asked, already getting along with his new title.

"Do me a favor." Buffy told Spike. He looked at her curious. "If you ever kill a slayer, never look into her eyes. And when you kill her, don't drink from her until she is already dead-just make it quick."

He was a bit shocked, but hid it this time. He was in town just to do that, kill a Slayer. "Why would I do that pet?" He asked.

"I would hate to kill you Spike." She told him seriously, but not out of mood or tone.

He looked at her, surprised and curious. "Why is that pet?" He knew she could somehow, kill him that is.

"You feel… familiar. Like you've met my husband." It slipped out before she knew what she was saying and she let the conversation simply flow on.

His eyebrow lifted. "Husband?" He didn't think any broad would be out and about if they had ties to a fortune of their own. But then, this chit was certainly peculiar.

Then he remembered the rock on her hand. Knowing what he was thinking she slowly lifted her hand up. She slid the large ruby red and diamond ring off of her ring finger and held it up to the full moon. The vampire tried not to goggle at the beautiful crystal light that shown off.

"My mate." She confirmed. Husband was all very well in all circles with the diamond and colors on her finger and the money at her hand. But she was a mated. She wouldn't give herself to anyone else again unless she found him.

She put it in front of him without knowing why, he opened his hand and she dropped it in. "I'll be expecting that back someday." She said, nodding her head up and down, totally seriously and in the same mood.

He didn't even try to question her logic. "And to answer your question," she changed the subject back to the attempted-rapist, "I made him chew off his own dick and left him in a sewer of his own blood to choke on it." He grinned at the torture of the attempted rapist of the little girl's, Adriana. He didn't know how she knew what he was thinking, but it didn't seem strange to him.

"Hey pet." He started to ask.

"What Spike?" She asked, already knowing what was coming.

"Why the name?" He asked, referring to her usage of '_Spike_.'

"'_Spike'_ you mean?" When he nodded she just shrugged, still having this tiny smile and the sad grey eyes on her beautiful face features. "It fits you. You cause pain and you're sturdy. You're good at wedging in between people. But most of all, you're looked over but act in the most eccentric ways." She smiled. "Plus, someone that sticks out as much as you wouldn't want to be called William by even his sire." She said seriously, aloud.

She put her hand out in a lady-like gesture; calming his acclamation at saying he had betters. He didn't say anything though, but just took he hand in the manly gentleman way. "Till next time Spike."

He nodded his goodbye. When the pieces fit, he had to confirm it. "Till next time Slayer." She wasn't surprised that he knew.

And underneath the full moon, two family members parted ways without knowing what the future would hold and without knowing that they missed a chance to reunite a Slayer and her mate.

……

Like the little one-shot? Updates wanted!

I won't be adding to this little part, but there's more then one fic that I am planning on to include this piece.


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